In Bruges

It is very hard to take a bad picture in Bruges. Every street is like a painting, walking over bridges you glance left or right and see pretty scenes of tour boats on canals or horse drawn carts taking tourists through the cobbled streets. It has a
village feel to it and the flower market in the old town centre is definitely worth visiting. One interesting part for me was the old medieval fish market. Although there were no fish for sale this day, the individual stalls have cool stone slabs for laying the fish on, a remarkably efficient design. We spent a pleasant day wandering the streets, buying souvenirs and soaking up the atmosphere.



We visited the beguinage in Bruges, a women-only religious retreat. It was peaceful and serene. It has a small wooded courtyard surrounded by small houses and walled off from the town. This is one of several bequinages in Belgium and the Netherlands which have been given World Heritage Sites status by UNESCO. These places are unique and tranquil in atmosphere, almost like stepping back in time.


The Gothic church, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) has a beautiful little statue of Madonna and Child by Michaelangelo. It is apparently the only statue by Michaelangelo outside Italy. It was bought by a wealthy Flemish merchant and donated to the church. There were numerous museums, churches and medieval buildings to see.




You could easily spend a whole week in Bruges, exploring the sites,  but we only had one day. We finished it off with a visit to the Half Moon, a brewery and pub. We decided to pass on the tour of the brewery and just sampled the tasty product. We can highly recommend it!